KouriNick - That´s actually a very important question with a lot of impact that i would love to answer.
- First I'll answer why i prefer the "creature" strategy.
- I have played the basic all in pummeler variant of the deck and it has a an enormous flaw. wich is ... having a deck relying on 4 copies of 1 card makes it way to inconsistent, and in that deck, the rest of the creatures are more like an accesory for the deck to "hold" or to do small pushes before the pummeler arrives, and then pray it doenst get countered and wins the game. YES it can win, its inconsistend but it can win, in the other hand this deck variant just won 4 out of 4 FNM, Thats 16 out of 16 best of 3 matches, and being creature centered is the "why" it happens. let me elaborate.
After playing enought games with the the all in variant of the deck i found that very often im cloging my hand with pump spells for the pummeler, and if i dont have a pummeler, and i dont have enough creatures to have board advantage wich leads to controlling the pace of the attacks, it leads to even slow decks catchig up and killing you. what this deck do consistenly is play creatures that have enough impact to win the game on their own and still have the pummeler to spring you back in case youre getting cornered. and now this is very important, i also found that having way to much spells to pump the pummeler is a waste, when you can get a 20/16 trample pummeler with one spell and 6 energy.
- 1 attacking
Electrostatic Pummeler (best it can be done is turn 4)
- 1
Invigorated Rampage- 6 energy
*attack with pummeler* *apply
Invigorated Rampage* we have a 5/1 pummeler *apply 3energy* we have a 10/6 pummeler *apply 3energy* we have a 20/16 pummeler with trample. 6 energy is very common on turn 4 because you only need 3 energy before he enters and gives you 3 energy.
this deck wins consistenly with enduring creatures that not only are hard to kill but your opponent is often afraid to defend things like
Longtusk Cub because he is afraid youll pump it and get a free kill on one or more of his creatures.
wich leads me to the "pump spell choices" we have 4, first blosoming defence is not so much a "pump spell" but more a protective spell, and the 3 other pumps, give the pummeler trample, specialy
Built to Smash wich cost 1 red mana.
Wich also leadsme to the first question you made,
Scrapper Champion, i know it may seem a "odd" adition to the deck, and thats one of its advantages, its potential is hard to see until its on play, if a player dont respect the
Scrapper Champion and let her attack he is in big trouble, lets say you do the same that you do with a pummeler, and ad energy and a single
Invigorated Rampage to it.
- attacking
Scrapper Champion (wich can also be happening as early as turn 4) as long as you acelerate 1 mana with a
Servant of the conduit.
- 2 energy to give it +1+1
- 1
Invigorated Rampage*attack with
Scrapper champion and give it +1+1* its now a 3/3 with double strike *add
Invigorated Rampage* its now a 7/3 with trample* hit twice for 14 trample damage. now... why would i want this on my deck if i already have 4 pummeler you say ? easy, the cost to pump the scrapper is lower than the pummeler, and lets say you dont have the 6 energy, add a 1 mana
Built to Smash and make that 14 trample a 20 dmg trample, with 3 cards and the energy is the same she gives herself.
the second important point is when deffending "doublestrike" counts as "first strike" also, SO , add the smaller buff (
Blossoming Defense) and you will have a 4/4 first strike creature.
TL;DR
This deck is supremely consistent, YES the pummeler is a great finisher but this deck gives you the tools to win with many other creatures. ill make a in deept guide of why i chose every creature and whats its roll and it will be up posibly tomorrow. (im still typing it).
I hope this solved some of your doubts with the card choice, if you have more questions please feel free to ask.